Food Worship #2: The Tomato

It's hard for me to imagine a food with as many benefits as the humble tomato.  Is is a fruit?  A vegetable?  Something else?  I'll tell you what it really is, A SUPERFOOD!

I absolutely love tomatoes.  I chomp into whole ones like apples, and I pop cherry tomatoes like grapes.  At the salad bar at school, I'll finish my dinner, and my salad, then I'll head back to the salad bar and grab a good five or six more cherry tomatoes just to finish off that great meal I just had.  They are undeniable one of my favorite foods of all time, and will always be a staple in my diet.

I implore you to try to fit more tomatoes into your diet.  There are so many reasons to love them, and at the end of this article I plan to reveal a secret about tomatoes that I bet will convince you to have a few more in your salad today.

Tomato Benefits:

Tomatoes are extremely nutrient rich.  They are very high in beta carotene, a nutrient that helps keep you healthy by keeping that immune system running top notch.  It'll also keep your skin healthy, as well as other inner body tissues.  This decreases risk of infection and will help to fight off any new bugs you might come in contact with this winter.

Tomatoes have large amounts of Vitamin E and C, which will help keep your heart in great condition.  In fact consuming a few more tomatoes may help in decreasing your risk for heart disease, and might also decrease blood pressure.  Believe me, you really want your heart to stay healthy.  I know I want mine to stay ticking away, considering I demand so much of it in the gym every day.

Vitamin C will also help you to absorb other nutrients from your meal more effectively.  So basically, tomatoes not only help your body, they help those other foods you've eaten to help your body.  That's a win-win situation if I've ever seen one.

Guys, tomatoes are one of the best foods you can eat if you want to keep your prostate healthy.  And believe me, you DEFINITELY WANT that.  Tomatoes can help stave off prostate cancer (as well as other kinds of cancer).  Not many foods can claim to be so proactive in preventing cancerous growths as tomatoes can.  Eat a few more and feel a little better about your future.

Tomatoes taste amazing and are also very low in sugar and simple, starchy carbs.  This means they are low on the GI scale, and will not spike your insulin levels very much at all.  In fact, Tomatoes, like sweet potatoes, can help regulate your blood sugar, and keep your metabolism running quickly and efficiently.

Tomatoes are also very high in fiber.  That'll keep your digestive tract healthy.  And all of those gym rats on a bulk, a high fiber diet in compliment with your high protein meals will keep you from putting on excess fat because it slows digestion and allows your body to more easily metabolize the food you've eaten.  Lean muscle, that's what I'm talking about.

To finish up, tomatoes are very low in sodium, high in chromium, and contain no saturated fat.

Phew!!!!!  That's a good food, if there ever was one.

But I promised you a special secret about tomatoes.  We all know a good sized tomato is about the size of a large apple.  The apple will have around 100-150 calories.  The tomato?  Only 30!!!!!  Wow!  Talk about a healthy, filling snack that will barely even register on your daily calorie count.  Even cherry tomatoes only have about one calorie per tomato.  That's just plain awesome in my book, and definitely puts them on the podium to be worshipped as the super food they are.

I plan on posting a bunch of tomato related recipes at a later time.

Bite into a few, and try not get any on your shirt.  Good luck!

Food Worship #1: The Sweet Potato

When I decided to start this blog, I decided that on a regular basis I would like to pay respect the the "super foods" with a dedicated article to at least one every week.  That way, when I describe the benefits of each one, and explain why they are a MUST HAVE in any healthy, clean diet, you can all go and try them out at least one night that week.  Believe me they'll do you more good than you can believe.

So it's monday morning, and it's time for Food Worship 1: The Sweet Potato.  This little guy has so many benefits it's hard to believe:

Sweet Potatoes are rich in Vitamins, especially A and C, which act as antioxidants for the body.  These vitamins help you feel great all day, and help you stay as healthy as possible.

They are an extremely rich source of complex, low GI carbohydrates, which will give you sustained, powerful energy.  For any athlete a sweet potato is a must.  They feed your muscles all day and encourage your body to pack on lean, useful muscle fiber.

Probably my favorite benefit of sweet potatoes though, is the fact that they actively regulate blood sugar.  They reduce insulin spikes, and therefore decrease the chance that you will store unused sugar as fat.  That's right, a sweet potato is an extremely effective diet tool.

And guess what, they taste AMAZING.  Seriously, bake one up tonight.  You can even go to the store and grab one that comes in a plastic, microwavable wrapper.  Just pop it in the microwave for around 4-6 minutes, and you've got yourself one of the healthiest snacks nature has ever produced.

And before all of you ask, yes they are low in calories.  While calories aren't quite as important as everybody makes them out to be, I understand the calorie counting obsession.  So for all of you out there trying to stick to that certain number, sweet potatoes contain between 100-180 calories depending on the size of the potato.

Try to incorporate this food into your diet.  A good place to start is by replacing white potatoes with sweet potatoes.  Honestly these things taste better anyway, and you won't be getting those nutrient lacking, starchy simple carbs.

Give the humble sweet potato a try!

Here's a few delicious recipes, give them a looksie, and maybe try one of them this week.  There's no time like the present to try something new, delicious, and positively good for you.

http://crazyhorsesghost.hubpages.com/hub/How-To-Cook-Sweet-Potatoes